With an April 2 opening, spring cleaning comes early to Carowinds theme park that straddles the N.C./ S.C. state line. Crews are painting rides and adding improvements for the park's 39th season.
Getting a new color this year is the Vortex roller coast... Read More »

February 16, 2011

Cedar Fair drew record number of visitors in 2010

America's third-largest amusement park chain hit an all-time high in attendance in 2010 despite the tough economy and a shakeup in its front office.
Ohio-based Cedar Fair drew 22.8 million people to its parks, the company said Tuesday.
Better weathe... Read More »

February 16, 2011

Theme Parks Keep Rolling

Cedar Fair may have a love-hate relationship with its investors, but it must've left its thrill-seeking owners smiling with yesterday's fourth-quarter report.
The regional amusement park operator posted a better-than-expected 23% spike in revenue to $1... Read More »

March 31, 2008

Carowinds Drops Price of Season Pass

Officials at Carowinds amusement park hope dropping the price of season passes will lure more people into the park this summer. Between now and May 18, a season pass can be purchased for $69.95, which is $20 less than the standard rate. Season passes also... Read More »

January 09, 2008

Cedar Fair Entertains More Than 22 Million Guests in 2007

Cedar Fair today announced that combined attendance in 2007 at its eighteen locations totaled 22.1 million guests compared with 19.3 million in 2006. During this same period, preliminary average in-park guest per capita spending increased 5% to $40.45 com... Read More »

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company , a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, has, for the tenth straight year, earned the title of "Best Amusement Park in the World" for its flagship park, Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, acc... Read More »

August 23, 2007

Charlotte theme park prepares for annual Halloween revamping

Each year, Carowinds theme park celebrates Halloween by having individuals dress up as monsters and scare the crowds when the park is open at night. Carowinds is currently holding auditions for individuals wanting to become ghouls and monsters at the park... Read More »

July 30, 2007

Cedar Fair Comments on Reports of Sale to Destiny Capital

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company , a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, today commented on recent reports of a potential sale to Destiny Capital. "We have received numerous inquiries and questions regarding stories t... Read More »

Nickelodeon’s Slime Across America mobile tour will stop at Carowinds on July 21, providing kids the ultimate opportunity to experience the network’s famous slime. The new 18-wheel Slime Mobile, jam packed with interactive experiences, will entertain gues... Read More »

July 23, 2007

Cedar Fair Declares Second Quarter Cash Distribution

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company , publicly traded leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, today announced the declaration of a regular quarterly cash distribution of 47.5 cents per limited-partner unit, consistent with t... Read More »

July 17, 2007

Great America owner implements life jacket rule at all parks

The parent company of an amusement park where a 4-year-old boy drowned last week said it is requiring children under 48 inches tall to wear life jackets in all company-owned pools. The new rule implemented Monday applies to pools at the 18 parks owned by... Read More »

July 09, 2007

Cedar Fair Seeks Buyout That Would Keep Bosses

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., the nation's third-largest theme-park operator, has quietly reached out to private equity firms to gauge their interest in a buyout on the condition that the company's management team remains in place,... Read More »

July 05, 2007

Cedar Fair Reports Attendance and Revenues Through June

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company , a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, today announced that combined 2007 revenues at its parks through July 1, 2007 were $355.3 million, on 7.8 million guest visits and average in-pa... Read More »

June 22, 2007

Va. Theme Park Among Those Closing Ride for Inspection

Drop tower rides at five amusement parks owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company -- including a park in Virginia -- have been closed for inspection after an accident on a similar ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom severed a teenage girl's feet above the... Read More »

June 11, 2007

Carowinds Offers a New Way to Stay Cool at the Park This Summer!

Let's get it started! Carowinds Endless Summer on Ice presents a tribute to summer fun, as world-class skaters whip up a choreographed confection of twirls, jumps and spins to the beat of popular music. This fun-filled ice show, beginning Saturday, June 1... Read More »

June 04, 2007

Early-season results flat for Cedar Fair

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., the parent of Kings Island amusement park in Mason, reported revenues on a same-park basis were relatively unchanged for the first five months of its 2007 season.... Read More »

June 01, 2007

Cedar Fair Reports Early-Season Attendance and Revenues

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company , a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, today announced that combined 2007 revenues at its parks through the Memorial Day weekend were $147.2 million, on 3.0 million guest visits and a... Read More »

After a "terrifying" ride on the Top Gun roller coaster last summer, 9-year-old Nicholas Gretz was anxious to prove he was no longer afraid.

The Matthews boy was one of many thrill seekers whose wait ended Saturday, when Carowinds opened for the 2007 season. Clear skies and temperatures in the low 80s made it one of the busiest openings in the theme park's 34-year history, a spokesman said.

The reopening of a popular ride, new ownership and other changes also helped make Saturday a standout opener.

Cedar Fair, which bought Carowinds in June from Paramount, spent $3 million in the off-season to add trash cans, enhance landscaping and repaint a landmark tower, among other tweaks, spokesman Scott Anderson said. Officials also increased the cost of a season pass by $8 to $10 (up to between $67.95 and $69.95) and raised the minimum height requirements on a few rides, which some patrons Saturday said annoyed them.

People waited up to 45 minutes to ride the Borg Assimilator, a roller coaster that caused minor injuries to seven employees during a test run March 17. An employee accidentally pushed a button that released seat locks, causing the cars to stop at the bottom of a loop, Anderson said.

Officials made changes so pushing the button now triggers a slow stop and sounds an emergency alarm. It will not release the seat locks unless the cars are inside the gate. S.C. Department of Labor officials cleared the ride on Friday.

"It's even safer now than ever before," Anderson said.

The park has not had any ride-related accidents since 1999, Anderson said.

Southern Star, a ride shaped like a Viking ship, was not open Saturday. It is expected to debut in its new location next to Top Gun today, Anderson said.

But that closing did little to hinder the day. Attendance was up 10 percent to 15 percent from an average opener, Anderson said, declining to release other figures.

"It's a gorgeous day," said Gail Gretz, Nicholas' mother, who took her four children to the park. "The kids were very excited to come."

Nicholas rode Top Gun twice by midafternoon. He planned to go again. But had he conquered his fears? Said the boy:

Seven Carowinds employees were taken to the hospital with minor injuries Saturday after something went wrong with a mechanism on the BORG Assimilator roller coaster, Carowinds spokesman Scott Anderson said Sunday.

Anderson said the employees were taken to Carolinas Medical Center as a precaution, and all were treated and released Saturday night. Most had only minor bumps and bruises, he said.

Today, workers are investigating what went wrong with the BORG Assimilator, the park's tallest coaster. The S.C. Department of Labor also will investigate. The theme park is scheduled to open next Saturday, and Anderson said the park will still open as planned, although the ride might not.

Anderson said a group of 16 employees were on the ride Saturday at roughly 5:30 p.m. for the coaster's 51st test run this season when something in the mechanism that holds the seat in the proper position disengaged. That triggered a safety precaution built into the ride: the car the employees were riding in stopped at the base of the vertical loop. The ride hits a peak of 115 feet - or 11 stories - at its highest point, according to the Carowinds web site.

When the car stopped, the employees were about 8 feet from the ground and climbed down a ladder to get off the ride, Anderson said.

Each of the park's rides are tested hundreds of times before the park opens each year, and the BORG Assimilator had already passed a South Carolina state inspection this year, Anderson said. This is the first time in four seasons that the park has had a problem with the coaster, he said. If an investigation can't show what went wrong, the ride won't open along with the rest of the park next weekend.

"We're not going to open it until it's safe, and we know what happened and whether it will happen again," he said.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a leader in regional amusement resorts, water parks and active entertainment, today announced results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2006. The 2006 figures include the results of the Paramount Parks since their acquisition from CBS Corporation on June 30, 2006.

Cedar Fair LP of Sandusky is lowering its 2006 earnings guidance due to falling attendance at its amusement parks.
The company said it now expects to post full-year revenue of $815 million to $835 million and full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $285 million to $305 million, according to a company statement.
The statement did not list its previous earnings guidance, and a message left at Cedar Fair on Friday afternoon was not immediately returned.

Come September, Cedar Fair LP will have a big decision: whether to operate from Sandusky, as it has since 1870, or move to Charlotte, N.C.
In buying Paramount Parks Inc. last month for $1.24 billion, the Sandusky amusement park operator acquired a floor of leased space in a modern office park building in Charlotte that is Paramount's headquarters.
When the deal was announced, Cedar Fair Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Kinzel, a Toledo native, was asked about the Charlotte site's fate. He was evasive.

Cedar Fair, L.P., a publicly traded partnership which owns and operates seven amusement parks and five water parks, today reported that combined revenues at its parks through the first five months of the year were unchanged from last year. This was the result of a 2%, or $1.1 million, increase in in-park revenues, offset by a 5%, or $1.2 million, decrease in out-of-park revenues, including resort hotels.

Dick Kinzel sounded like a kid clutching a long-coveted birthday gift when he spoke about Cedar Fair’s decision last week to buy Paramount Parks for $1.24 billion in cash.
“We put everything on the back burner,” the Cedar Fair CEO said of the weeks leading up to the announcement of the deal. “We’ve always sort of wanted them. Sometimes you have to go off your plan a little bit and adjust.”

A day of amazing music and thrilling fun can be found at Paramount’s Carowinds during SonFest 2006, a contemporary Christian Music festival showcasing some of today’s best Christian artists in the Paladium Amphitheatre June 3.
Headlining Sonfest 2006 is Newsboys. One of Christian music’s longest-running touring rock bands, the group has amassed total record sales exceeding six million in its two decades together. The band has five gold albums, more than 20 No. 1 radio hits and a mantle of Dove Awards and Grammy nominations to its credit. The Newsboys have spent nearly 16 years together building a strong rock presence while remaining in tune with their Christian beliefs.

Cedar Fair shareholders say they're angry over a switch in a popular perk.
Shareholders used to get buy-one-get-one-free passes for the Sandusky company's flagship park, Cedar Point. This year the twofer deal is for the new Castaway Bay indoor water park.
The new perk is actually worth more because it includes overnight resort lodging.

Paramount's Carowinds announces the renovation and reopening of their campground that will now be known as "Paramount's Camp Wilderness Resort".
Amenities include: Wireless internet access, Air-conditioned cabins, Free shuttle service to the park and Discounted tickets to Paramount's Carowinds!